The invention relates to a reproduction arrangement comprising:
a receiving arrangement provided for receiving information coded according to a predetermined standard,
a decoding arrangement provided for decoding the coded information received by the receiving arrangement, so as to form decoded information,
a reproduction means provided for reproducing the decoded information.
The invention further relates to a transmission arrangement, a method of forming and transmitting coded information and a method of reproducing coded information.
A similar reproduction arrangement is described in xe2x80x9cPrinciples of optical disc systemsxe2x80x9d by G. Brouwhuis (ISBN 0-85274-785-3), in which particularly the physical and mechanical principles of optical discs and optical disc systems are described. Furthermore, several applications of these systems, such as a Laser Vision video disc system and a Compact Disk digital audio system are described. In such systems the receiving arrangement is provided for reading the information present on the information carrier. The invention, however, is not restricted to such reproduction arrangements with an information carrier, but may also be applied to reproduction arrangements in which the information is supplied, for example, in the form of a signal, the receiving arrangement then being provided for receiving the signal. An example of such a reproduction arrangement is a television receiver with an antenna being provided as a receiving arrangement.
It is an object of the invention to provide a reproduction arrangement as defined in the opening paragraph with which a producer of hardware and/or software, which is present in the reproduction arrangement, can verify in a simple manner whether this hardware and/or software has been made by the producer himself. For this purpose, the reproduction arrangement according to the invention is characterized in that the reproduction arrangement is further provided for receiving and decoding trigger information which deviates from the standard in a predefined manner, and the reproduction arrangement is further provided for converting the trigger information into a predetermined output.
The known reproduction arrangement described in the opening paragraph produces a predetermined output if information satisfying a certain standard is fed. If this information does not satisfy this certain standard, the output is generally undefined or the output is not generated. According to the invention the reproduction arrangement contains special information that does not satisfy the standard, but does satisfy a predetermined specification. This specification is only known to the producer of the hardware and/or software that is present in the reproduction arrangement. The reproduction arrangement is further arranged so that it nevertheless produces defined output if this special information is fed. By utilizing the reproduction arrangement in a normal fashion and not dismounting same with means of special tools, the manufacturer can very easily verify whether the reproduction arrangement according to the invention comprises hardware and/or software made by the manufacturer. If the defined output is reproduced if this special information is supplied, the reproduction arrangement comprises the manufacturer""s hardware and/or software.
It is observed that the trigger information, for producing a predetermined output, is known per se with the so-called Easter Eggs. Software developers provide their software with a certain functionality which is only be executed if a secret combination of keys, mouse clicks or commands is used. This functionality usually consists of showing messages, animations or effects. These Easter Eggs, however, only occur in software which is installed in computers; then these messages, animations or effects are done full justice. Furthermore, combinations of key strokes, mouse clicks or commands are not bound by a certain standard, whereas the described system just has a standard as a condition. So this solution does not seem right suitable the problem as described earlier.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a transmission arrangement as defined in the opening paragraph. Since the reproduction arrangement according to the invention also receives and decodes trigger information, it is advantageous to provide a possibility of also producing this trigger information. For this purpose, the transmission arrangement according to the invention is characterized in that the transmission arrangement is further provided for transforming a predetermined input into the trigger information and transmitting the trigger information.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of reproducing coded information, which method comprises the following steps:
receiving information coded according to a predefined standard,
decoding the received coded information for the formation of decoded information,
converting the decoded information into an output, characterized in that the method further comprises the following steps:
receiving and decoding trigger information that deviates from the standard in a predetermined manner,
converting the trigger information into a predefined output.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of forming and transmitting coded information, which method comprises the following steps:
coding the input for forming coded information,
transmitting the coded information, characterized in that the method further comprises the following steps:
converting a predefined input into trigger information and transmitting the trigger information.
It is observed that coding or decoding, respectively, is not only meant to be understood as intricate operations according to certain algorithms or standards such as, for example, MPEG coding, but also a simpler operation such as digitization of information.
These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will be elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.